Apparatus for lifting and supporting rim-equipped tires



Aug. 31, 1948. c. E. BRANICK 2,448,414

APPARATUS FOR LIFTING AND SUPPORTING RIM'-EQUIPPED TIRES. Filed May 25, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [rave Aug. 31, 1948.

C. E. BRANIGK APPARATUS FOR LIF'IING AND SUPPORTING RIM-EQUIPPED' TIRES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May '25, 1945 j 'zvervior M y Patented Aug. 31, 1948 APPARATUS FOR LIFTING AND SUPPORT- ING RIM-EQUIPPED TIRES Charles E. Branick, Fargo, N. Dak. Application May 25, 1945, Serial No. 595,782

4 Claims. 1

My invention relates generally to machinery or equipment for the handling of rim equipped pneumatic tires, and more specifically to a device for facilitatingthe application and removal of pneumatic tires from their rims.

As pneumatic tires have increased in size in late years, they have become so heavy and clumsy to handle that the problem of mounting them on and dismounting them from their heavy steel rims has been a serious one. Particularly is this true in the matter of dismounting wherein the rim should be elevated from the floor, both for convenience of operation and to facilitate the removal of thetire therefrom.

With these problemsin mind it is a further object of my invention to provide a device which can pick a heavy rim and tire off the floor, lift the same up to a level where a man can work upon the same without bending over, and which is capable of turning the tire and rim approximately 180 on a horizontal axis 'so that any desired position of the tire and rim may be had to further facilitate the work being done.

The above and other objects of my invention will become apparent from the following specification and attached drawings in which like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a top elevation of my novel structure;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, some parts being broken away and shown in section;

Fig. 3 is also a side elevation but taken from the side'opposite that of Fig. 2 one position of the device being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the rim having a removable snap ring.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates an L-shaped frame made up of an upright supporting member 2, shown as being preferably in the nature of a square steel tube, and an outwardly projecting cross sectionally circular tubular member 3 rigidly secured to the upper end thereof. Upright member 2 is horizontally, pivotally anchored at 4 to a suitable base 5. Base 5 is generally U-shaped and is made up of forwardly diverging feet 8 connected at their inner ends by a transverse member 1. Preferably, and as shown, the members 6 and I are channel irons welded or otherwise rigidly secured together. A rearwardly projecting portion of the 2 frame is made up of a channel iron 8 which is rigidly joined to the central portion of transverse member 1 and projects therefrom at a angle, and also the triangular reinforcing plates 9 and 10. The plate 9 and rearwar-dly projecting channel iron 8 are spaced apart to loosely receive the lower end of upright 2.

Projecting upwardly from the outer extremity of base member 8 is an ear H to which a tubular member I2 is pivotally secured by means of a bolt and nut combination [2a. The outer or upper end of tubular member l2 has a nut I22) welded thereto to receive a threaded shaft I3. The outer end of threaded shaft 13 is journalled in a collar 14. Collar I4 on its opposite sides has a pair of built up bearing bosses l5 and Hi. Radiating from boss l6 and at 90 from the axis of collar [4 is a shaft ll. Upright 2 is provided with a built up bearing boss I8 on one side thereof and another such boss I9 on the opposite side thereof. Bosses l8 and I 9 are provided with openings 20 and 2|, respectively, which receive the shaft I! and act as a journal therefor. Shaft I! is provided with a reduced threaded end portion 22. An enlarged washer 2'3 abuts against the shoulder 24 on shaft I1 and is held rigidly in position by means of a nut 25. In this manner shaft H is prevented from being removed by endwise thrust. Projecting from bearing boss [5 and in alignment with shaft I1 is a stub shaft 26, welded or otherwise made fast to boss l5 and collar [4. Journalled on stub shaft 26 is a bevelled gear 21 and a crank 28 having a horizontally projecting handle 29. As will be observed by reference to Fig. 5, crank 28 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced pins 30 which fit into recesses ina boss 3| on the outer face of gear 21, thus assuring rotation of the ear 21 with the crank 28. Stub shaft 26 is also provided with a screw threaded reduced end portion 32. An enlarged washer 33 which abuts against the shoulder 34 is held securely in place by'a nut 35 thus preventing the accidental removal or separation of gear 21 and crank 28.

Mounted on the outer end of the angularly disposed threaded shaft [3 and made fast therewith by means of a key 36 is a second bevelled gear 31 which intermeshe s with bevelled gear 21. Gear 31 is held rigidly in place by a burr or nut 38.

Extending axially through tubular member 3 of frame I with its ends projecting out from both ends thereof is an elongated shaft 39. Shaft 3'9 is journalled for rotation in bearings 40 in the front or free end of tubular member 3 and 41 in the rear end thereof. A vertically disposed wheel 42 having a horizontally projecting handle grip 4-3 is rigidly secured to rearwardly projecting end 44 of shaft 59 by means of a bolt or rivet 45. At the front or free end of shaft 39 a worm gear 46 is rigidly secured for rotation therewith.

A pair of upwardly and forwardly projecting supporting arms 41 on the free end of member 3 supports a spur gear 48 which is horizontally pivoted thereto at 49. The teeth'rof spur gear49 are in mesh with the teeth of wormgear 45. With reference to Fig. 2, the back face of spur gear 48 is welded or otherwise made fast to a reduced supporting arm 50 of a vertically disposed supporting flange which is welded or otherwise made fast to a tubular reinforcing sleeve 52. Radiating from the tubular reinforcing sleeve'i-52iare a pair of fixed dogs 53 which have been. secured thereto by Welding as indicated at 530.. "Tubular reinforcing sleeve 52 in turn encompassesand is Welded to a cylindrical'tubular body 1531), all as shown in Fig. 4.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 4, itlwill be observedsthat tubular body portion 53b is provided "with a cylindrical bore .55. An airtight .plate 56, held-securely in place by means of set -screws'51, is provided-With a centralaperture 58.

A plunger element 59 is positioned axially in cylindrical bore- 55 and extends outwardly through the central aperture-58 in cover .plate'55. On its outer end, plunger-Sills provided with a rim engaging point 65 and its innercend is secured to .pistonfil by means ofa set screw 62, or the like.

A coil spring- 63, interposed between end plate '58 andpiston member-ill, tends to bias said piston .and plunger in a retracted position. It will be vobservedthat cylindrical :bore55 provides a fluid chamber into which air under pressure is forced to enter or permitted to'escape by means of'an air line .64,-.a valve 55, a flexible hose section 66, and a nipple 61 opening into said chamber through :an' integral end'plat'e *68.

Valve'55 is a so-called three-wayvalve of the type disclosed and claimed in my-Patent No. 2,310,892, issued February 9, 1943.

:Itwillbe observed that tubular body 531) to gether with the stationary 'dogs 53, the piston 6|, andthe 'plungerelement59 constitute an expandingzmandril, the operation of which will be more ful-lyexplained hereinafter.

.In-Figs. 1, 2 and 3 my novel device isshown as demonstrating its utility incombination with a tire and rim combination, and in which the tire casingbears the numeral 69, the tube the numeral 1'0, and a conventional rim, the number N. .tRim Tlihasan integrally formed bead engaging flange" onone side thereof and a removable bead-engaging. flange T3, in the'form of a resilient snap f ring, on i the other side "thereof.

Operation In the-event that a tire and rim combination istoo heavy to be conveniently lifted, it is placed on the floor in a horizontalposition, immediately belowthetubular body portion 53b of the expanding-mandril, as-illustrated in Fig. 3. The crank=28 is then turned in'a direction to force the free-end of L-shaped frame member I to drop downjnto the center of the rim Rim engaging point 540f stationary dogs 53 are then made to loosely contact the rim 1!. Air under pressure is then permitted to enter chamber through air pipe sections 64, 66,-and nipple 61 with a result thatpiston 61 and plunger 59 are pushed forward until the rim engaging tip 60 bears with considerable pressure against rim 1| as illustrated in Fig. 2. With this three-way engagement of rim H by stationary dogs 53 and plunger 59, the outward pressure exerted by the movable plunger 59 is distributed equally between them, so that with sixty or more pounds of air pressure, the holding force is so great that the rim can be lifted or moved to any position without fear of its accidentally breaking loose.

T0 elevate the tire an'd rim to a position in which it will be convenient for a man to work tupon them, the crank 28 is turned in a direction to. r.aise.-the mandril equipped end of frame I to thefpositionillustrated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 it will be observed that the snap ring '13 has already :ibeeniremovd' and the tire casing 69 is in an ideal .position to be pounded ofi the rim H by blows "from a "sledge'hammer, or the like, exerted on theuppe'r side thereof.

In the event that difliculties are experienced .inremoval of snapring 1-3, or for any other reasomit is desired to elevate the tire to the position shown in dotted-lines in Fig. 3, then and in :thatevent, this may be accomplishedby turning the wheel 42 whereupon the tire casing 69 and rim 1! are rotated. aroundhorizontal axis 49 to any extent up to 7 When itis desired to'release therim and-tire from the mandriL-it'is only necessary'tol permit escapezof theair from fluid pressure chamber '55 v by opening valve 65, thus allowing coil spring '63 to pushpiston 5! back tointegral end plate 63- so as-to thereby retract the plunger 59.

While I have illustrated and described in'detail one-form of myinvention -as required by section 4888 of the statutes,- it isobviousthat said invention is capableiof various modifications whichdo not depart from thespirit of the inventionas defined-in the appended claims.

What=I claim is:

-1.In a machine for facilitating the application and removal ofrpneumat-ic tires-from'their rims, an approximately L-shaped frame mounted on a horizontalipivot to a'suit-able base of support at one of its en'daportions and .proj ecting :upwardly and outwardly from said pivot, means-for adjustably moving-said frame on its said horizontal pivot to effectively raise and lower the free end portion of said frame, an expanding mandril mounted on ahorizontal pivot to'the free end portion or-said frame, and meansfor imparting'pivotal adjustments to said mandril on said horizontal pivot and retaining such adjustments.

.2. In amachine for facilitating the application and removal of pneumatic tires from their rims, a frame horizontally pivoted to a suitable 'bas'e of support at one end portion and projecting outwardly from said pivot, means for "adjustably moving said frame on its'sai'd horizontal pivot toeflectively raise and lower'the free'endportion of said frame, anexpanding'mandril horizontally, pivotally 'anchoredto'the free end portion of "said frame, and cooperating-means on said frame and said mandril for imparting pivotal adjustments to saidmandril-onsaid horizontal pivot and retaining'such adjustments, said mandril comprising*-a-main body and'aplurality of radially proje'cting dogs having tire ri'm engaging tips, at least one'of said'radially projecting dogs being longitudinally extensible andcontractable.

3. Ina machine for facilitating the application and. removal of pneumatic'tires from their rims, a supporting base structure, a frame mounted at one of 'its e'n'ds to said base for'pivotal'mo'vem'ents in a verticakplane, an expanding:mandril carried' and projecting axially from said cylinder, said 5 plunger having a rim engaging tip, and a plurality of other rim engaging elements mounted in relatively fixed relation with respect to said cylinder.

4. In a machine for facilitating the application 10 to the upper portion of said supporting member, 15

means for raising and lowering the free end portion of said arm, an expanding mandril horizontally pivotally anchored to the free end portion of said forwardly-projecting arm, means for imparting pivotal adjustments to said mandril about said 20 horizontal axis and retaining such adjustments, said mandril comprising a fluid pressure cylinder, a piston-equipped plunger working in and projecting axially from said cylinder, said plunger having a rim-engaging tip, and a plurality of other rim-engaging elements mounted in relative ly fixed relation with respect to said cylinder.

CHARLES E. BRANICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 473,682 Vanes Apr. 26, 1892 776,831 Geddes Dec. 6, 1904 1,309,058 Arthur July 8, 1919 1,399,351 Lee Dec. 6, 1921 1,751,480 Howell Mar. 25, 1930 1,888,834 Puleo Nov. 22, 1932 1,932,302 Browne Oct. 24, 1933 2,065,644 Bristol Dec. 29, 1936 2,213,535 Seip Sept. 3, 1940 2,225,273 Jacobs Dec. 1'7, 1940 2,383,275 Scane Aug. 21, 1945 

